Iruka Sensei!
by Bread-Making-Viking
Summary: A oneshot centered on Iruka's first day teaching in the Academy.


'Iruka-sensei!'

My version of Iruka's first teaching job

By: kougayurizoku

Sixteen-year-old Umino Iruka let out a sigh that fit his current mood splendidly. He had spent the last five minutes wandering the halls of the Konoha Ninja Academy, trying to find the classroom that he was supposed to be teaching in **ten** minutes ago.

_What's wrong with me?_ He thought, _I only graduated four years ago! _Just as he was about to question his sanity, a white-haired Chuunin only a few years older than himself ambled down the hall, hands tucked neatly in his pockets and flashed him a smile. When he was about to pass by, however, the newly appointed sensei found his voice and opened his mouth to ask the older instructor for help.

"Oi, um…Sir?" He finished lamely. The Chuunin turned around slowly and eyed Iruka up and down before responding.

"Yes?" He answered, removing his hands from his pockets.

"I uh…I'm sort of…lost. Can you help me find my classroom?" Iruka blushed at his own stupidity. The other man smirked slightly before walking back towards the sensei in distress.

"You're new aren't you?" He asked, glancing at him with a knowing gleam in his eye. Iruka nodded. "You must be Iruka. I'm Taisuke Mizuki." Mizuki extended his arm in a friendly manner. The brown-haired Chuunin grinned and took his newfound friend's hand in his own, shaking it vigorously. "Don't worry; we've all had our first days. I'll help you." Iruka couldn't prevent the sigh of relief from escaping his lips.

"Thanks a lot; I really appreciate your help!" Iruka grinned so wide that his youthful brown eyes were forced shut. Mizuki chuckled at the young man's naivety.

"Okay, I believe you're teaching the youngest class, ne?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hai. Class B." Iruka straitened his back, trying to look taller than he really was. Mizuki quickly hid his amusement with a very fake-sounding cough. This boy had no idea of what he had coming to him. Class B was an insane asylum. Most instructors before Iruka lasted only a day, sometimes less, with the difficult class before resigning. One had even gone far enough to say that she'd die before going back into **that** classroom with those "little devils".

She had lasted only an hour, thus forcing Mizuki to be their substitute teacher for the day, given that his class of older students was taking an exam that day and required very little supervision. Thankfully, for his reputation's sake, he had managed to put up with the students for the remaining part of the day.

However, he had secretly approached the Third and demanded that he would never fill in for another teacher in that classroom again, as long as he lived.

"Do you know where that is?" Iruka asked after a few seconds of silence slipped by.

"Oh, yes, I know the place." Mizuki responded, slipping out of his own musing, "Follow me." He waved his hand towards the end of the hallway, signaling for Iruka to come with him.

ooooooooo

"Uh, are you sure this is the correct classroom?" Iruka gulped as soon as he entered the chaotic room. The children were not sitting in their correct seats, nor did they respond to his arrival to the class. Any loose item within their grasps was hurled throughout the room, without the least bit of caution as to where it was being thrown. The children were so loud that the new instructor could barely hear himself think! And to make matters even worse, a little girl was sitting on the floor, bawling her eyes out.

"Mizuki-san?" Iruka called behind him.

"Yes, I'm positive this is the right room. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach myself." Mizuki bowed slightly as an apology, and was gone.

"M-matte!" The sixteen-year-old Chuunin ran to the door, but it was no use, Mizuki had disappeared. _Oh great, this is just my luck._ Iruka took a deep breath before walking to the front of the classroom.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat to get their attention, but had no such fortune. "Excuse me!" He shouted. Still no response. "QUIET!" The commotion ceased immediately and every single pair of eyes in the classroom, save his own, was focused on the new teacher.

"Good. Now allo-" He began to introduce himself, but was cut off when a dirty chalkboard eraser hit the unfortunate teen square in the face, causing a series of coughing and choking to arise from his lungs.

Some of the children cringed in fear at the outburst that was bound to emerge from their teacher, but most pointed and laughed at Iruka's predicament. However, one little girl with a red bow tied in her pink hair still sobbed as if her heart was breaking.

Iruka, who had experienced that exact pain, knew what it was like to cry your heart out; he absolutely **hated** the sound of someone else's heartache.

With a sigh, he walked over to the little girl and scooped her up into his arms, hugging her close to him, and forgetting about the little eraser incident. As he walked over to his desk, he gently rubbed her back, hoping that she'd stop her incessant wailing before the sound deafened him.

Iruka sat her on his desk so that she'd face him as he sat in his chair. The class began chattering yet again, but not nearly as loud as they were before. He ignored them. As long as they didn't start throwing things again, this would be just fine…for the moment.

Finally, Iruka focused his entire attention on the girl. Green eyes full of tears and sorrow looked back into his.

"Okay." His lips formed a small smile of comfort for the little girl. "What's the matter?" He asked in his sweetest voice. She sniffed and wiped her eyes before answering him.

"I wanted to sit next to Sasuke-kun, but Ino-chan said I was too ugly and my forehead was too big to sit next to him and that only someone as beautiful as her could sit next to him." She stuttered out, tearing her eyes away from his.

"Well, what did Sasuke say?" He asked softly.

"He," The child stopped talking long enough to sniff and continued on. "He didn't say anything." Iruka nodded knowingly, but paused before going on.

"What's your name?"

"Sakura," She slowly turned her gaze back to his perceptive brown eyes. He smiled a little more.

"You have a pretty name, Sakura." The faintest smile appeared on her lips. "I think that Sasuke should be the one to decide who sits next to him, don't you, Sakura?" Sakura nodded.

"Don't worry about what Ino says; she had no right to tell you that. Sasuke's opinion is the one that you should care about, not Ino's. No matter what he says though, you are very beautiful, Sakura." He finished. She brightened at his last remark.

"Do you really think so?" She asked.

"I do." Iruka grinned. Before he could even blink, she was sitting on his lap and had her arms around his neck. He slowly raised one arm and placed it gently on her back.

"What's your name?" She whispered into his ear as if she was telling him a secret.

"Iruka," He whispered back. She pulled her head back to look him in the eyes.

"Are you going to be our new sensei?" She asked, her little green eyes full of hope. He smiled yet again.

"Yes, Sakura-chan, I am." She squealed in delight and planted a kiss on her new sensei's cheek before hopping off his lap and running up to sit on the other side of Sasuke. Iruka's face turned six shades of red. After a few seconds of trying to control his facial colors, he finally gave up and walked to the front of the classroom.

"Ahem." He began for the second time. Everyone grew quiet again and focused their eyes on their new sensei. "That's better. Now allow me to introduce myself." He closed his eyes and cleared his throat. Someone snickered and chucked a bright red not-so-ripe apple from their lunch at him. Their aim was slightly off, however, and it hurtled to his right. In the blink of an eye, he swung his arm out and caught the large piece of fruit.

"My name is Umino Iruka, and I'm going to be your instructor from now on." Iruka squeezed his hand in a swift motion, and the apple burst into smaller mashed pieces. He looked up at the class, his lips forming a meaningful smirk. "So let's try behaving ourselves from now on, okay?"

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!" Sakura called from her seat. The rest of the class gulped in unison. Iruka was different from the other teachers that they'd had up until now.

No, this would not be an easy year for them…

The End 

A/N: I wrote this a while back. It wasn't until a few days ago that I decided to post it. Let me know what you think!

**Okay, that whole Sakura part wasn't supposed to be gross. Just think of her as a five-year old girl with self-esteem issues who was just told that she is pretty. Typical five-year-old reaction, in my opinion. **

**Thank you for reading, and don't forget to leave a review! **

**Until next time. **


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